The Hitting Zone

Kaylee stayed with me the whole time, until Noah came back. With him back, she went to talk and hang out with some of her own friends. Noah was more relaxed with her gone, and dried by just sitting in the sun. We spent the afternoon talking to the occasional classmate that came by. Alisha played hostess well, going around and talking to everyone. Eventually it was time for cake.

Noah and I stayed on the outer edges of the group, and sung 'happy birthday' with everyone else. Okay...I didn't sing, but Noah sang loud enough for the both of us.

Alisha's parents went around taking pictures and then helped with the cake cutting. Those who didn't want cake had choices like cookies, cupcakes, or even fruit. They really threw a great party. Noah was more than satisfied by all the sweets we were able to eat.

As the party started to wind down, some classmates even came up to me to thank me for Jeremy's autograph. It was...surreal. Being at a party full of people, including strangers, and talking to more than just Noah...I didn't feel like me at all.

Noah sent the twins a text to pick us up and we moved to the front of the house to wait for them with some other kids waiting for a ride. Alisha was busy saying goodbye to everyone so she only shared a smile with us before saying, "See you guys tomorrow."

Dave was the one to pick us up in Mom's car, grinning like he won the lotto. "This is too cool." He told us as we got in the car. "I hope Zeke takes the family car to college so I can drive this car to school everyday."

Noah scoffed. "Do you really think Kyle would let you drive to school everyday?"

"We'll take turns." Dave said as he drove us home. "I'll do mornings and he can do after school. Or vice versa."

Noah let out a small laugh. "This is MOM'S car. There's no way she's giving this up for us to take to school. It won't even be able to hold all of our baseball bags."

Dave frowned. "Yea...that would be a problem."

They talked all the way home. Once there, we joined Kyle in the living room watching a baseball game. We spent the rest of the late afternoon watching and talking about baseball. Once the A's game was about to come on, we headed out to the pizza parlor. It was crowded on a Friday night, but Dave was able to get us a table close to the tv while Kyle ordered the pizza.

The night was surprisingly relaxed without Zeke. The twins didn't bicker much and Noah didn't try to start any fights. Even when we went to the arcade to play games, no arguments broke out. It was like a silent agreement that without anyone to referee them there was no point to start any fights.

We got home late, yet Zeke still wasn't home. Mom and Dad were though. They sent us to bed immediately.

In bed, in the dark, I wondered aloud for Noah to hear. "Is this what life will be like when Zeke is at college?"

"No way." Noah snorted. "Today was different because Mom and Dad were gone. If we got into any kind of trouble, they would never trust us home alone without Zeke again."

"I'm going to miss him." I whispered.

"How can you miss someone that's always here?" Noah laughed. "We've got all summer with him. Prepare to be in the best shape of your life."

I gave a small laugh. That's true. I just don't like the idea of him no longer being around. I think Noah felt the same way, but wanted to show the tough kid act.

We both fell asleep, not knowing when Zeke would come back from the beach farewell party.

The next morning, I decided I couldn't wait for him to leave for college. He may have come back late, but that didn't stop him from waking us up early for a jog and some light weights. I was jealous that the twins got to go take a nap after breakfast whereas we had to go to our softball game.

Luckily, it was another old people team. We got to have a fun, relaxing game with our team. Alisha was horrified after finding out that we worked out before the game while Andy looked a little jealous. KJ and Kaylee spent a lot of the time talking about softball pitching and it sounded like Kaylee wanted to learn from KJ. Slightly strange since her sister is such a phenomenal pitcher.

After easily beating the old folks, we separated from the team to hurry home. We rushed to take showers and put on our A's gear. The twins waited impatiently by the door, itching to hit the road.

"I wonder where we'll sit in tonight's game." Dave mused when we finally packed up the car and Zeke started to drive to the highway. "Hopefully it's all you can eat seats again."

"I can just text Rose so we get free food." Noah volunteered. That's right...he had her number.

"What? Why do you have her number?" Kyle asked, confused.

Since he was gone on a camping trip, Noah had to give a small recap on how everything went down.

"I wonder if she'll end up being Jake's sister-in-law?" Kyle mused. "Would that make her our sister-in-law? How does it work with adopted siblings? Do I just call Jeremy my brother's brother?"

Noah shrugged. "That's what Jeremy did. He called Zeke his brother's brother. It works."

"Ah! It's such a strange feeling to know a real pro." Dave stated. "I wonder if we can meet some of the other players today since we're going to arrive early."

"On the field passes." I told him.

"Jake, your brother has really opened my eyes." He sighed.

I turned red, unsure of what to say.

At the stadium, it was already late afternoon, two hours before game time. We followed the same pattern of going to the will-call window and got the tickets. As soon as we entered, Rose was there to greet us.